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Nkaigle
November 5, 2012

The 5th Signal Center Team 1944 - CSI #43

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This is my submission for last week's CSI #43.
The color requirements were: Black, white, yellow, pale green and medium green.
My evidence includes framing, transparencies, and rub ons.
My testimony is: I have used an old photo, and tied the past to the present in my journaling in which I documented a special event.

My journaling reads: " The group in the photograph was the 5th Signal Center Team. The photo was taken in May 1944, in Oran, Algeria, where the team was bivouacked prior to deployment to France as part of the Allied invasion of Europe from the south in WW2.
The team was assembled and trained as a group at Camp Crowder, MO. All of the men were fluent in French, a necessity, as their job would be liaison between the Free French Army and the US 7th Army. They were skilled in the use of C-E equipment, enciphering and deciphering machines, radio teletype and teletype writers.
So here we see the team gathered together in the hot Algerian desert. That is my Dad, standing 3rd from the left, smiling broadly. They were all in a strange place, a harsh climate and a foreign culture - but they all have the carefree and upbeat look of young men about to embark on an adventure. They would later be tested in the European theatre, and their past sacrifices ensured my future well being. But for now, this is their Algerian adventure!
Dad would occasionally relate his Algerian experience, very simply and with little embellishment, and only when pressed!!! The huge tent camp was HOT and dusty. The men wore fatigues and continued to drill in the heat. They would sometimes get passes to go into the city, which he remembered as being dirty, with flies everywhere, and many beggars. As a child of the great depression era, Dad was used to deprivation, but the city was a real shock for him. The men also had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of the French Foreign Legion.
As a child I was always amazed and fascinated that my Dad refused to eat dates. When questioned his reply was always "that's all I saw when I was in Algeria - dates in the marketplace covered with hundreds of flies, wouldn't eat a date if you paid me a million bucks!!" To which I would express suitable repugnance and sympathy, but continue on eating my date/nut bar!"
Creating a feeling of "heat" was an important part in the making of the background paper. I used semi-gloss gel medium with 2 different masks, then misted with various shades of green and yellow. I hoped to get the shimmery effect of heat waves in a desert and the hot Algerian sun.


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